黄鹂科huáng-lí kē

黃鸝科huáng-lí kē

コウライウグイス科kōrai-uguisu ka

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Comments and corrections welcome. All Malaysian and Indonesian names in the process of conversion into modernised spelling only. Hover over Green LetteringGreen lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

The orioles are known in Malaysian as Burung Kunyit'turmeric bird'. Turmeric or Indian saffron (Curcuma longa) is used as a seasoning, in medicine, and to make a yellow dye. It is an areal tradition for prominently yellow-coloured birds to be called 'turmeric birds' in Thai, Lao, Mon, Malay, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian languages. Besides the orioles, it is also used in Malay for the ioras (Aegithinidae). However, in view of its colour, the Black-and-Crimson Oriole (Oriolus cruentus) is not known as Burung Kunyit'turmeric bird' and is instead named as a kind of Burung Murai or 'thrush'.

One ornithological authority, Ismail's List of the Names of Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Southeast Asia (24), uses Burung Dendang'crow (bird)' for the orioles.

Indonesian

The Indonesian ornithological naming uses Burung Kepudang for all members of the genus Oriolus.

Popularly, the Thai name นกขมิ้นnók kʰa-mîn 'turmeric-bird' refers to yellow birds without regard to their scientific classification, including orioles, ioras, and even pet canaries. In ornithological Thai นกขมิ้นnók kʰa-mîn 'turmeric-bird' is used for the orioles and นกขมิ้นน้อยnók kʰa-mîn nóaay 'little turmeric-bird' is used for the ioras.